Metal siding panel



Jan- 18, 1956 R. T. GRHART ETAL 3,229,436

METAL S IDING PANEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1962 INVENTORS ROLAND'I'. GERHART HANS C)A ROSE BY wwwa/42M AT TORN EYS Jam 18, 1966 R. T.GERHART ETAL 3,229,436

METAL S IDING PANEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1962 INVENTORS.ROLAND 'l'. GERHART HANS O. ROSE MM, @0MM/@6% ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent Oh ice 3,22%,435 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 3,229,436 METAL SIDINGPANEL Roland T. Gerhart, West Bloomfield, and Hans 0. Rose,

Birmingham, Mich., assignors to Integral Engineering and ManufacturingCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed July 5,1962, Ser. No. 297,559 1 Claim. (Cl. 52-521) This invention relates tometal siding panels and a method for making same and, more particularly,relates to a metal siding panel which has an integral fastening tab andwhich requires less metal for its manufacture than known metal sidingproducts.

The metal siding art is a highly developed one and a wide variety offunctionally satisfactory siding products are available. However, therelatively high cost of such products has prevented their use in manysituations. The cost of raw materials, particularly the cost of thesheets from which the siding panels are formed, is a major portion ofthe total cost of the metal siding product. Hence, if the amount of rawmaterial required to make a metal siding panel were reduced, themanufacturing cost would be lessened correspondingly.

Heretofore, it has been thought that in order to provide adequatestrength and weather sealing, it was necessary to provide a continuousinterlock structure along and between the overlapping edges of adjacentsiding panels. Accordingly, the prior art structures have been providedwith continuous ange structures along their upper and lower edges, whichflange structures have various cross-sectional shapes, all intended toprovide a secure interlock between the edges of adjacent siding panels.We have discovered, however, that such continuous interlock structuresare not essential and that ksubstantial savings can be achieved by theuse of longi tudinally spaced interlock structures.

Most of the prior metal siding products heretofore available haverequired the use of special clips or fastening devices of various kindsfor securing the siding panels to the structure on which the panels areto be mounted. These devices are separate from the siding panelsthemselves and are separately manufactured and, hence, constitute afurther item of expense which can be eliminated by providing meansintegral with the metal siding panel whereby the panel can be secured tothe support structure therefor, such as the frame of a building.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedmetal siding Ipanel which can be manufactured at a lower cost.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved metalsiding panel, as aforesaid, in which the panel has an improved interlockstructure which makes it possible for the panel to be produced at alower cost.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an iinproved metalsiding panel, as aforesaid, which has integral fastening tabs thereon.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved metalsiding panel7 as aforesaid, which provides an effective weather seal andwhich has adequate strength.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for makingthe improved siding panel.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved metalsiding panel, as aforesaid, which can be manufactured using the samegeneral type of equipment and following generally similar procedures asthose presently used for making other types of metal siding panels.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent topersons acquainted with products and methods of this type upon readingthe following disclosure and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of fragments of three siding panelsconstructed in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a broken sectional View taken .along the line II-II ofFIGURE l and rotated 90.

FIGURE 3 is a broken plan view of a fragment of the siding panel.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a portion of a sheet from which two sidingpanels are to be cut and illustrating the slitting pattern between thetwo panels.

Referring to the drawings, in FIGURE l there are shown three interlockedsiding panels 10, 11 and 12 constructed according to the invention. Thepanels are made of a suitable metal, usually aluminum. It will beunderstood that in use, these panels are secured to a suitable supportstructure, such as the wall 15 of a building but such is not shown indetail because it can be of any suitable type and forms no part of theinvention. Since the siding panels 1t), 11 and 12 are identical, onlypanel 11 will be described in detail herein and it will be understoodthat this description applies also Ito the other panels. Correspondingparts on the other panels 10 and 12 will be identified by the samereference numerals with the suffixes a and b applied thereto,respectively.

The panel 11 is comprised of a main body portion 13 which is here shownas being dat. Retaining hooks 14 are provided at longitudinally spacedpoints along the upper edge 16 of the main body portion 13 and areintegral therewith. The retaining hooks 14 are identical and each has -aweb section 17 which extends upwardly from the upper edge 16 and whichis substantially coplanar with the main body portion 13, The hook 14 isbent through an angle greater than 90 with respect to the main bodyportion 13 of panel 11 to provide an outwardly and downwardly extendingportion 18. The outermost portion 19 of the hook 14 is curled under andits innermost edge 20 is located close to the lower surfaces of portion18 between the inner and outer edges thereof.

As Will be described further hereinbelow, the hook 14 is formed bybending or rolling a portion of a sheet. Such portion has the shape of atrapezoid, here an isosceles trapezoid, and the wider one of theparallel edges therewith is integral with the upper edge of the mainbody portion 13 of the panel.

A fastening tab 26 is lanced out of the central region of the rstportion 18 of the hook 14. The fastening tab 26 also is substantiallytrapezoidal and the wider one of the parallel edges thereof is integralwith the web portion 17 of the hook 14. The tab 26 projects upwardlyfrom the web portion 17 and the main body portion 13 of the panel. Thetab 26 is disposed so that it can lie flat against the structure uponwhich the panel is mounted. In the usual case, the main body portion 13will extend at a small angle, such as 3 to 5, with respect to thestructure upon which the panel is mounted so that the panel will givethe appearance of conventional Wood siding. The tab 26 has an elongatedslot 27 therethrough through which fastening means, such as a nail, isreceivable whereby the panel can be secured to the support structuretherefor.

A continuous, lengthwise flange 31 extends inwardly from the lower edgeof the panel 11. The flange 31 extends substantially perpendicularly,here at an angle of about with respect to the main body portion 13 andis continuous and unbroken between the longitudinal ends of the panel11.

A flat wall portion 32 extends upwardly from the free inner end offlange 31 along the entire lengthwise extent thereof. The wall portion32 is substantially parallel and contiguous with the main body portion13b (FIG- URE 2) of the adjacent lower panel 12 adjacent to the upperedge thereof. Desirably, each panel has a lengthwise extending,outwardly projecting ridge 33 adjacent its upper edge against which theupper end of the wall portion 32 of the next higher panel is adapted toabut. The ridge 33 strengthens and -stiffens the edge of the panel andprevents recoil marks on the panel as the result of the lancingoperation. A further wall portion 34 extends from the upper end of wallportion 32 back toward the main body portion of the panel 11 and saidportion 34 is received between the main body portion 13b and the hook14b on the adjacent lower panel 12. The wall portion 34 terminates in anarcuate portion 36 which is adapted to engage the lower surface of theportion 18h of the hook 141:. The fit of these parts is such that thewall portion 32 is maintained in snug engagement with the upper edgeportion of the panel 12. Since the flange 31 is continuous, there are nogaps or openings between it and the upper edge portion of the adjacentlower panel. Hence, an effective weather seal is provided betweenadjacent panels.

The siding panels can be assembled in substantially the same way asprior art siding panels. That is, the siding panel 12 (FIGURE 2) can besecured to the wall of a building by placing fasteners, such as nail 60,through the slots in the fastening tabs 26h thereof and then securingsuch fasteners to the support structure. The next higher panel 11 can bemounted by placing the wall portion 32 thereof against the outer face ofthe panel 11 below the hook 14b thereof and then moving said panel 11upwardly until the arcuate portion 36 engages the lower surface of thehook 14b and the wall portion 32 abuts against the ridge 3312. Thefasteners 60 are placed in the slots 27 in the fastening tabs 26 andthen such fasteners are secured to the wall structure of the building.Other panels (such as panel 10) can then be assembled in a similarfashion.

Manufacture of the panels is carried out by starting with a flat sheet38 which is wide enough to form two panels or whole number multiples oftwo panels. FIG- URE 4 shows a fragment of sheet 38 froml which twoseparate panels 11 and 12, for example, are being cut. Ordinarily, thesheet 38 is in the form of a web and it is cut by passing it throughrolls having slitting dies thereon (not shown). The machinery used forslitting the sheet can be of any conventional, known type and forms nopart of the invention.

In order to form the upper edge portions of two siding panels, the sheetis cut along a continuous line 39 having parallel, longitudinally andlaterally oset line portions 41 and 42 which are connected byintermediate, transversely extending line portions 43 and 44. The zonesbetween two adjacent intermediate line portions 43 and 44 define ears 45and 46 from which the hooks 14 can be formed. Ear 45 is integral withsheet section 47 and ear 46 is integral with sheet section 48. Thus, thehooks for two siding panels are formed from the ears 45 and 46 of thesheet, which ears are longitudinally aligned and offset from theirrespective sheets. Thus, by using longitudinally spaced, interittinghooks, it is possible to make the hooks for two siding panels from thesame portion of a single sheet. This provides a substantial savings ofraw material over previous practice. For example, if two continuousretaining structures, which extended along the entire lengthwise edgesof the panels, were used, the sheet would have to be wider by an amountat least as great as the distance between the line portions 41 and 42.

The portions from which the tabs 26 and 26b are formed can be providedby slitting the sheet 38 along 4 the lines 49 and 50 at the same timethat the slit line 41 is made.

After the sheet is slitted as aforementioned, the hooks 14 etc., theflanges 31 etc. and associated structure can be formed to their finalshape in any suitable, conventional fashion, such as by roll forming.

Thus, the invention provides a metal siding panel having integralfastening tabs, which panel is formed by slitting a sheet to form twopanels, the width of the sheet being substantially less than it wouldotherwise have to be if a continuous retaining or interlock structurewere used along both edges. It has been found that, for example, aueight inch siding panel constructed according to the invention can bemade from 13.5 percent less material than a conventional eight inchsiding product not embodying the invention.

While a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has beendescribed, the invention contemplates such changes or modicationstherein as lie within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A metal siding strip or the like, comprising:

an elongated panel having along its upper edge a series oflongitudinally spaced, separate retaining hooks, the space betweenadjacent retaining hooks on said panel being at least as large as thewidth of the hooks so that two panels can be cut simultaneously from thesame elongated metal vsheet with the portions thereof which provide thehooks on the respective panels being provided by longitudinally aligned,alternately arranged portions of the sheet, said hooks each having afirst, outwardly and downwardly turned portion and an integral fasteningtab lanced out of said first portion and projecting upwardly from saidupper edge of said panel, said hooks also having a second portionextending inwardly from said first portion;

said panel having an inwardly turned flange along its lower edge with anedge portion extending upwardly from said ange for reception between thefirst portion of the hooks of another similarly constructed panel andthe upper edge of said other panel;

said retaining hooks inplan view each having the shape of a trapezoidwith the wider one of the parallel sides thereof being integral withsaid upper edge, said trapezoid being bent outwardly adjacent the widerside thereof away from the panel through an angle in excess of toprovide said first portion and also having a reversely bent-underarcuate portion at the free end thereof which extends substantially tothe underside of said rst portion, said arcuate portion forming saidsecond portion of said hook.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,43 2,999 10/1922 Greenstreet 52-5 31 1,510,533 10/1924 Abraham 52,-523 1,510,61410/1924 Torrence 52--529 2,749,603 6/1956 Trussel 29-415 2,991,5927/1961 Rauen 52-531 3,037,271 6/ 1962 Schilberg 29-415 3,120,082 2/ 1964Mendelsohn 52-531 3,159,943 12/1964 Sugar et al. 52-278 RICHARD W.COOKE, I R., Primary Examiner.

L. R. RADANOVIC, Assistant Examiner.

